A New Era to Resolve~

Happy New Year!~ The rest of today and a wake-up away from 2010.

I have labored over my New Year’s resolutions, commitments, pledges and over all, what I like to call, the Hoo Ya. You know the “rally call.” I see 2010 as not just a new year and a new decade but the continuation of a new era. An era of American Patriots who are informed, engaged and stepping out of mediocrity and complacence to protect and defend the American way of life.

I have come to realize that freedom is not a destination, it is a lifestyle, a process by which one lives, and it needs constant and vigilant effort to maintain. Given that I have decided instead of making the typical New Year’s resolutions, to embrace a change of living techniques, ways of thinking and viewing of life

My family and I will survey our personal lives, our own home and our local community for changes needed to coalesce people, be bridge builders and ensure freedom.

We will continue connecting with those around us, interacting and discussing our concerns, steadily building networks of friends. After all a nation by definition is a community of people. If we intend on mending our nation we have to mend its people. There is a saying- “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Having a vested interest in our neighbors and them in us is a huge step in the protection of individual freedoms.

In our home will use our time wisely cutting out those things that are time suckers such as TV, video games, etc, so we can read truly important books like, "The 5000 Year Leap" and "The Real George Washington”. We will do our due diligence to research the daily news for truth and the too-often inaccurate e-mails we receive in an effort to be genuinely informed and not merely reactionary. And we will re-evaluate frequently our motivations.

Last, but by far the most important act is that we continue to pray. We will ask questions daily based on a list of priorities we prepared as a family; God, Family, Church/friends, Country and Career. We will ask for guidance in how we can most effectively spend our time, energy and resources. We resolve to pray earnestly for our leaders to become and remain men and women of godly principles and ask that holy and wise leaders be raised up to help guide us from this present darkness and confusion.

It will take time to get back to daylight, there is no quick fix. If we commit to work diligently together and vow to never again become complacent, to teach our children to be vigilant, I am confident we will prevail!

I look forward to meeting many of you as I travel across our state to help encourage Arkansans to become informed, engaged and empowered!

Happy New Year and richest blessing to you and your family. May God continue to bless America.

God’s Speed

Laurie Masterson

Stuffing Stockings and Reindeer Games~ Throw a Wrench at Construction Industry

The monstrosity of a largely -unread Health Care Bill is going before the Conference Committee probably as I write this, the Senate voted for cloture and sent this devastating 2000-plus pile of paper on it’s way to become the new law of the land.

Not only does the bill include fines and prison time for American Citizens who refuse to comply with it’s egregious and unconstitutional provisions, but just today we learned that only 3 minutes prior to the cloture vote, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) added an amendment that specifically excludes the construction industry (and ONLY that industry) from the small business exemption of mandated health care insurance for 50 employees or less. In other word’s this amendment requires construction businesses with 5 employees or more to insure its employees while other small businesses with fewer than do not.

For instance, suppose a small businessman has a four year-old company that employs himself, his two sons, one son-in-law, and two others. This person, who business has dropped 60 percent in a year, is struggling to stay afloat with the current construction downturn.Now, under this Senate Bill, he somehow must find money for health care insurance for his business to meet the new government mandates. He is faced with closing his business, firing some of his employees, or paying hefty fines and even possible jail time. This mandate will likely seal the fate of this small entrepreneur, who otherwise, might be able to weather the economic storm.

And the new tax credits for small businesses, which our senators both have boasted about, are so narrowly defined that few will qualify. And if they do, the credits only last for two years, making them little more than a slow bloodletting.

Many good people will be affected. There are over 4000 licensed construction businesses in Arkansas, alone, plus who knows how many other construction subcontractors, easily representing tens of thousands of our citizens whose livelihoods hang in the balance.

This is a crippling blow to an already devastated industry with a 20 percent unemployment rate in Arkansas. As one of my Democrat friends put it: “This is a slap in the face for the Democrats. It’s [the Merkley Amendment] a back door for the Unions.”

Instead of being able to focus on our families during this sacred holiday season, we Arkansans find ourselves, along with people across this nation, having to constantly chaperone and press our senators and congressmen as they prance around Washington playing reindeer games, holding secret meetings and stuffing their own stockings.

Senators Lincoln and Pryor each have broken their promise that we would have 72 hours to read the bill and amendments.

In a conversation with Senator Pryor’s office this afternoon I was told Senator Pryor was definitely concerned with this development (the Merkley Amendment) but that enough of his criteria had been met he would be voting for the bill. When told that if this amendment should pass the state’s construction industry is likely to implode a Pryor spokesperson replied: “that’s one way to look at it”.

Meanwhile, over at Blanche Lincoln’s office, she’s reported to also have had “enough of her goals met” and that she, too, would be voting to move the bill forward. Although her spokesperson did add the senator would have some reservations if the Bill came out of committee with this amendment still attached.

Shame on them for shady, back room politics and last-minute amendments that they had not read and don’t understand. But, shame on us if we have not faxed, emailed and called constantly to stop this travesty. Remember the admonishment from Edmond Burke: “All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand idly by and do nothing.”

Veterans Day!

There are a few times every year that rouse my esprit de corps, Veterans Day is on of those times. It has been a while since I have donned my US Navy EOD Diver uniform but the spirit, in which I joined the U.S. military, well over 20 years ago, is still alive and well today reminding me of the blessing I received in serving.

Tomorrow Nov 11th is Veterans Day 2009. I hope you gather with your family at some point tomorrow for a moment to think of and pray for those who have fought and are currently fighting to defend our freedoms, protect our liberties and secure our borders.

The horrific murders that occurred in Ft Hood, TX just a few days ago remind us of the incredible sacrifice that our soldiers make on our behalf. Please do not let tomorrow pass without making a conscious effort to celebrate and give thanks for our military. May God bless and protect each man and woman now wearing the uniform as well as each one who has worn it before them. I would also ask you to pray for each of their families, the constant thought of their loved ones being in harms way is especially heavy as we approach the holiday season.

I know that we are in some tumultuous times in our country right now, but I would submit, without equivocation, that we still live in the GREATEST country on planet earth, for which we should be enormously thankful. ~Thank you God for blessing me as an AMERICAN~God’s Speed~ Laurie

From Protest to Action

The day had been filled with congratulations and thank you’s , which is awesome and greatly appreciated. However I truly don’t deserve all the credit or accolades. The scores of TEA Party people that worked diligently to hand out flyers, make phone calls, write letters to the editor, rally, attend meetings, formulate and pay for ads and You Guys, the 6000 people that took time out of their days to go be a part of the solution by voting deserve the credit and recognition for all your efforts.
The people of Fayetteville from all sides united to say ENOUGH! Even though the district was able to solicit endorsements from the City Council, the Mayor’s office, the AFSCME Union, the Chamber of Commerce and the local paper which carried story after story, after editorial, after endorsement. They sent a blizzard of studies, fact sheets, robo calls, mass mailings, letters home with students and even personalized home meetings all around our city to convince people that we needed to spend $116 million plus that much in interest to build a high school for the children. Even after all of that, the PEOPLE were able to examine the facts they presented, which were surprisingly few, and say No, we have not been given nearly enough information to hand over any more of our hard earned money in such tough financial times for everyone.
Yesterday’s election was the largest school election ever held http://bit.ly/251IK5 in Washington Co.. That in itself is a huge achievement! I hope what is accomplished by this historic milestone is that people all across our state realize the power for common good that is generated when a community unites, when concerned people become informed and engaged in the process afforded us to insure our freedoms and liberties.
For the TEA Party movement to continue to be effective we must move from the Protest to Action phase. Use the momentum and credibility we have gained thwarting EFCA (card check) and healthcare, facilitating the resignation of Van Jones, the gathering of millions of Americans from April 15th, July 4th and 9/12 to our first local victory by defeating an outrageous millage increase to now move to sustained action implementing change in our communities. We all need to send a clear and continuous message to our elected officials at every level : We will no longer sit idly by and watch as you leverage our futures and the futures of our children with unresponsive, arrogant, over-reaching and over-spending tactics. Get together now and begin tomorrow joining forces with others in your neighborhoods, churches and offices. Pleas start attending public meetings i.e. school boards, city councils, quorum courts etc. Let them see you are there and interested. Begin to listen and even investigate what is happening in your own back yard, where your voice is the loudest. Also let your legislators know in a civil manner that that they are on notice, that we the people are here to watch and speak - and we aren’t sittin’ down anymore.

So Much going on in AR Politics

The Senate race is becoming quite crowded. When I went to Little Rock to meet with Senator Pryor last week I also met with Conrad Reynolds, candidate for U.S Senate, seemingly a nice man. The fact that he is a veteran, a colonel, was very appealing, being a vet myself. He told me then that he would be hiring K. Ryan James as his communication advisor. K Ryan is a blogger who I have followed for several months now and is really an asset to Reynolds in my opinion.

Several weeks back I met Curtis Coleman, another candidate for U.S. Senate, he strikes me initially as a very capable and convicted person. When he was asked- "how do we know that when you go to Washington you won't do what everyone else has done and cave", his response "you don't". Man I love a guy who can tell the truth instead of trying to blow smoke up your fanny. I do know that his wife is definitely a resource. Their one of those couples you really like to go to dinner with knowing the conversation will always be interesting and high energy. Here is what Jason Tolbert has on Coleman http://tolbertreport.com/2009/05/27/curtis-coleman-launches-website-for-us-senate-campaign/

Then there is Tom Cotton, whom I have never met but also heard good things. He is a veteran and my understanding is that he served in Afghanistan and has just recently returned to Arkansas. Hopefully I will be able to meet Mr. Cotton in the not so distant future. Here is a blog post by David Sanders with some other details- http://arkansasnews.com/2009/08/12/cotton-uproven-but-has-good-story-for-politics/

I saw on Jason Tolbert's blog that Tom Cox's Communication Director, Stefani Buhajla resigned today apparently over a dispute regarding some comments Cox made over the weekend. I never really considered Cox a contender, since the first time I talked to him on the phone I got that hinky feeling, ya know the one like, what is he really saying?

Gilbert Baker has entered the race although for months now he has been telling people he wouldn't run and his campaign manager was working for Conrad Reynolds and I guess is now back working for Baker....


I know that there are some other candidates out there, I have even heard that there is a Democrat that will run in the primary against Senator Lincoln, whose numbers are plummeting. I am sure there is no correlation between her numbers and the fact that she has yet to meet with her constituents or that she continues to vote against the wishes of the people of Arkansas She does have 3 townhall meetings scheduled this week .... Pine Bluff, Russelleville and Jonesboro...umm ?

All of this to say that the 2010 election season should be interesting and I highly encourage you to watch the players on the field, I know each of them will have plenty of opportunities for you to "meet and greet", at least as long as they are all still candidates.

Visit with Senator Mark Pryor

Bob Porto and I (along with my 15yr old daughter) met with Senator Pryor and four of his staff members today and here a couple of observations, I will expound later-

The conversation was pleasant. The Senator and his staff were welcoming.

We talked a while about how can the people of Arkansas become accurately informed and effectively engaged. How do we help our elected officials to accurately represent the people when they return to Washington to vote on bills that affect our everyday lives?

Senator Pryor agreed that things were moving to fast and that he was thankful for the slowing down and the involvement of THE People. He assured me that when the final health bill was written by the “Conference” that he would let the people of Arkansas know what was specifically in it and would be open to genuine feedback.

Neither the Senator nor any of the four staff people present (Randy, Tate, Mike and Lauren) knew or had ever heard of Van Jones (Green Czar), the Apollo Alliance or John Holdren (Science Czar). We asked who these people are, who they are accountable to, and are the allegations we are hearing about their past as far as being closely tied to radical revolutionary organizations true? We asked if they are on the government pay roll? while they were unable to answer these specific questions, Tate, Senior Legislative Assistant, said he research it and would let me know what he found out.

The Senator reminded us that President Obama is not the first President to have Czars, to which we agreed but still expressed concern about many of the people, with seemingly dubious backgrounds, that President Obama is seemingly surrounding himself with.

As we discussed the healthcare issue the Senator said that there would be efforts to include tort reform in the senate's healthcare bill, which is contrary to what was expressed at Senator Lincoln’s office. I was personally encouraged by that.

We asked if he supported a Public Option, he replied that he would have to see how it was framed and what form it was written, we all agreed we did’t really understand the coop option.

The Senator said that he had recently talked with a Senator from Rhodes Island, Sheldon Whitehouse, and that Rhodes Island had a “public option” that was working. When we asked is it self sustaining he said he did not know.

When we talked about the public options that we already have such as Medicare/Medicaid the Senator considered those programs were successful because they “helped the poor”, but he did agree that they were “unsustainable”.

I asked specifically if he would vote for EFCA, he replied that EFCA would not be dealt with this year and most likely not next year either.
We were there for just over an hour and appreciated the Senator’s time. We hope that this is one of many open dialogues that the Senator is willing to have with his constituents.

Events of the Day

Directly after spending 13hours in a car with 4 teenage girls on the heels of 10day in Florida makes a person appreciate civility (and sleep), hence my cumbaya moment.


Friends, I cannot express to you the over whelming positive response I have received about our showing today! I tell you this, that because of our unwavering dedication to our beliefs accompanied with our self control and civil demeanor we have gained the respect of Senator Lincoln, her staff and all those in attendance at today’s event~ We have just solidified the meaning of American Patriot.
From the beginning of The TEA Party movement the mantra has been “it is not about left or right it is about America”. Today at Senator Blanche Lincoln’s fund raiser in Bella Vista, AR no truer words were ever spoken.
I was unable to attend the event today but thanks to advanced technologies i.e. facebook, twitter, email, and cell phone uploads I was able to piece together the tesserae of a fine mosaic. Imagine if you will a beautiful park laid in the depths of an Arkansas forest with a babbling brook running through the center and huge boulders as the back drop on an August evening at the end of summer; insert hundreds of citizens from every political persuasion gathered under very conspicuous circumstances, saddled with incredulousness over the most controversial issue facing a nation, and what would you expect? Well that was the scene. Over 150 people (mostly TEA Party People) lined the entrance to Blowing Springs Park this afternoon with signs displaying fears, concerns and downright frustration of the much debated Healthcare issue, while others, perhaps as many as 50 Tea Party people and the remainder democratic supporters walked through what could be described as a conga line to attend a Democratic Fund raiser. For more than 3 ½ hours in close proximity R’s, D’s, L’s, and perhaps even some C’s and G’s sat or stood side by side without incident as Senator Lincoln and others presented their program.
Though there were some early tensions and perhaps some bad decisions made around the table, the day ended with a new found appreciation for civility.
I received this text this evening around 8:30-"Laurie...I just wanted to say that your group was orderly and respectful...you should be proud of the way they conducted themselves" Robbyn Tumey, Former Chairman of the Benton Co. Democratic Party
May God bring a new understanding to Americans as we move forward.~ God’s Speed

Public? Town Hall? Rally? Where?

Over the last twenty-four hours there has been quite the brouhaha over Senator Blanche Lincolns Non-Town Hall, Town Hall meeting. After making calls to the senator’s office consistently over the past two weeks and being repeatedly told she was not having a public forum on healthcare, you can imagine my surprise when the following came in an email from Organizing for America on Thursday around 6pm:

Benton Co Democratic Party Event in Rogers with Sen. Lincoln(Health Care Public Event)
I wanted to send you an urgent invitation to an important public meeting with Sen. Blanche Lincoln this Saturday, August 15th. She'll be talking to constituents and gathering feedback -- this is an ideal opportunity to make sure your support for health insurance reform is seen and heard at exactly the right time.Our congressional representatives are back home this month, and they're facing more and more pressure from special interests on health insurance reform. It's critical that we get out there and show them where we stand.
What: Public meeting withSen. Blanche LincolnWhere: Samaritan Community Center 1211 W Hudson RdRogers, AR 72756 When: Saturday, August 15thArrival Time: 3:30 p.m.Start Time: 4:30 p.m.Our representatives are under attack by Washington insiders, insurance companies, and well-financed special interests who don't go a day without spreading lies and stirring up fear. We need to show that we're sick and tired of it, and that we're ready for real change, this year.Please come to the meeting, and make sure that the most powerful voices in this debate are those calling for real reform, not angrily clamoring for the status quo.Thanks,KyleKyle SimonArkansas State DirectorOrganizing for AmericaP.S. -- Before the event, please print off a flyer to display and make sure that your support is visible.

After making a few calls we (Arkansas Unite) decided that we would like to have a chance to participate in what seemed to be the only chance we would have to address our senator with questions and concerns we have on the healthcare issue…being this was a “ Health Care Public Event”
We began to facebook, twitter and email our members across the state this message, http://bit.ly/qjBr4,notifying them of our opportunity to address our senator.

Around noon today (Friday) I received an email from Debbie Rambo, Executive Director of the Samaritan Community Center which read in part:

It has come to my attention that an organization entitled Arkansas Unite has recently sent out an e-mail that states that Senator Blanche Lincoln has scheduled a town hall meeting on Health Care Reform that will be held at our building on Saturday evening .
Please note that this information is NOT correct... I have been repeatedly assured by the event organizer that this is not a town hall type of forum, and there will not be questions and answers… Please note that I have also notified the state director of the Arkansas Democratic Party, as well as the state director for Organizing for America (Kyle Simon) that this is NOT a public (or private) healthcare forum and requested that this information be removed from the Organizing for America website immediately.

**As of right now Friday at 10:47pm OFA’s site reads - Benton Co Democratic Party Event at Blowing Springs Park with Sen. Lincoln (Health Care Public Event)- note the change in location

Around 4pm today (Friday) I received another email from Ms. Rambo stating, “Please note that the Democratic Rally scheduled for tomorrow evening at the Samaritan Community Center has been cancelled.”

Boy the stuff was really beginning to hit the fan. So I decided to do a little google search I found this-

http://politicsinarkansas.com/2009/08/lincoln-event-wont-be-health-care-forum/
Lincoln: Event won’t be health care forum
— Posted by John Lyon on August 14th, 2009
U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln wants everyone to know that an upcoming rally in Benton County is not a public forum on health care.
In a news release, Lincoln’s campaign said today that Saturday’s annual Benton County Democratic Rally was incorrectly described in e-mails issued by the Washington-based group Organizing for America as a “health care public event.”
“The Benton County Democrats have planned this event for months and Sen. Lincoln believes it is unfortunate that the erroneous e-mail by Organizing for America has misstated its purpose,” Lincoln’s campaign manager, Steve Patterson, said in the release.

Well now we can all understand how a mistake like that can be made but then up pops this jewel http://bit.ly/KcYPQ from MoveOn.org:

Real Voices for Change Action
Samaritan Community Center in Rogers, 1211 Hudson RoadRogers, AR 72756Saturday, August 15th, 4:30 PM
Let's keep the momentum going! Please sign up for this gathering right away!
Please join us at the Benton County Democratic Committee Summer Picnic/Rally as we ask Senator Lincoln to support a strong public health care option. To enter this event, you must purchase a ticket, but we will be holding signs out front. Tickets are $5 to enter and $10 if you would like a meal. If ...(more)you're interested in buying tickets, please contact any of the following people ASAP. Carole Westby, 876-… c:640-….; Charles Aldrich, 636-….; or Bill Millager, 636-…..

One might argue that Organizing for America could send an “erroneous email” and get is wrong, being that they are supposedly an arm of the Obama Administration, but to try and convince me that an organization with an impeccable reputation for facts such as MoveOn.org got it wrong is a whole nother matter. What really strikes me as peculiar is the names at the bottom of the email from MoveOn.org, Carole Westby, Charles Aldrich & Bill Millager. Umm I have seen these names somewhere before…where was it? OH! I know here http://www.bentoncountydemocrats.org/ on the Benton county Democrats’ site on Aug 4th announcing the “Summer Rally/Picnic”

Good Times Are Here!
Written by Bill Millager
Tuesday, 04 August 2009 08:39
Join Senator Blanche Lincoln and other Distinguished Speaker at our Summer Rally/Picnic Please buy your tickets well in advance from Carole Westby, 876-…. c:640-….; Charles Aldrich, 636-….; or Bill Millager, 636-….

Now am I supposed to believe that the contacts being the same for both organizations (Benton County Dems and MoveOn.org) had a miscommunication between themselves? Well let’s just say I “report, you decide”.
I am not saying this happened (and I am not, not saying it either) but it looks like what might have been a plan to STACK a meeting with friendlies and perhaps have a very favorable Town Hall for the news media got just a little out of hand.
Not only did the email from Organizing for America say it was a “public” event, they had a link for attendees to print off a sign and encouraged people to “make sure that the most powerful voices in this debate are those calling for real reform”. While the Benton County Dems, oops I mean, MoveOn.org’s email stated “we will be holding signs out front”. One might tend to think with that kind of verbiage there was going to be a little more going on than just sippin ice tea, eatin watermelon and listenin to the good ole fashion political rhetoric.

At around 9 pm this evening, we received word from a source that in fact the meeting has not been cancelled but moved to a different location. You think they did that on purpose? I am beginning to get the impression they don’t want anyone who might disagree or have questions that challenge the senator’s logic supporting the current health care bill to not show up, YA think?

All that said, I am sure that Senator Lincoln and the Democrats of Arkansas, specifically Benton County never intended to shirk those of us that disagree with her stance on the pending healthcare bill and have every intention of letting us know in the morning of the current location (*wink* we already know), so that we will have a chance as voters, constituents and concerned citizens to address our senator before she heads back to Washington to cast her vote impacting the lives of all Arkansans, especially those who oppose this egregious proposed healthcare legislation.

Why won't they talk to us?

As the news of "crazed" town hall meetings dominates the news, we here in Arkansas are finding it hard to even get a return phone call or an email.

Monday morning August 3rd I received a call from a friend letting me know they had contacted Rep. Vic Snyder's office and asked if he was going to hold any Town Hall meeting during his recess,the answer...NO!

So facebook, emails and twits went flying, appox. two hours later there surfaced a release that Rep. Snyder was going to hold a town hall meeting on Wednesday night the 5th of Aug at 6pm. with the Central Arkansas Labor Council. Once again the facebook, emails, blogs, and twits zoomed through cyber space. Approx 10 am yesterday morning (Tuesday, August 4th) we were told that it was a private meeting and that we would not be allowed inside. One more time we hit the keyboards to spread the message that it was a closed meeting but we should still attend to let Mr. Snyder know that we are very interested in having some time with him while he is home.

About 2:30 that same day while in a meeting my blackberry went into convulsions, in a matter of just a few minutes i received myriad texts, emails and facebook messages that the meeting had been canceled, perhaps moved to Arkansas Children's Hospital.

I know this is getting repetitive but this is the story, one more time we notified everyone. Below is the final statement we sent out. It is our sincere hope that our elected officials will find time while they are home on recess to openly discuss with the people of Arkansas the decisions they have been making while representing us in Washington.

I know that I am willing to listen intently, ask concise relevant questions in a respectful manner and convey in a civil tone my concerns.

Our Statement:
Friends
We found out this afternoon due to scheduling conflicts, Vic Snyder’s office is canceling the town hall meeting tomorrow night at the Central Arkansas Labor Council on Enmar Drive.Since then we have been informed that Representatives Snyder and Ross will be at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital at 2 pm for a town hall meeting. Our question would be why would our elected officials choose a hospital filled with children and hurting families for a political forum? We have waited for months for our elected officials to return in able to have an opportunity to respectfully address their decisions in Washington. To involve ill children and their families seems to be once again an extremely poor choice.Given these circumstances are beyond our control, we encourage you to be mindful of the situation and of the innocent families involved and to refrain from attending. Please keep those children and their families in your thoughts and prayers. As always, we encourage everyone to be firm and assertive but civil. We are honorable people who are sympathetic to the hurts of our fellow citizens.Hopefully, we will have an opportunity to have an open dialogue with our representatives during their recess. Please let them know in a considerate manner that we would like some of their time. Stay informed, engaged and empowered

Rules we need to know

Today in my husband Mike's column in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette he laid out the Chicago extremist Saul Alinsky’s 1971 “Rules for Radicals.” I along with many others believe this is crucial information We must understand what we are up against and the mindset of the people who are pushing so hard to turn our country inside out.

Please read this carefully, as you do think about all the arguments you have heard as of late...things will begin to fall into place, and where you thought you might be going absolutely stark raving mad you will realize- "no I was right, I/we are being manipulated and played".

I know for me this read shed a much needed light on- how, what, where, when and why we got to this point.

Someone today emailed me after reading Mike's column and said they needed time to digest, "healthy eating here".~ Read on~

Below, Craig Miyamoto of Public Relations Strategies cites Alinsky’s dozen rules for duping and using the honorable citizens of the country, a.k.a. “the enemy.” What better way to achieve Alinsky’s dream than to make us dependent by eliminating free enterprise and individual liberties?
The effective way to counteract such calculated subversion is for the hardworking, tax-paying so-called enemies to arise and become radical activists for preserving the Constitution and individual liberty. Alinsky’s rules: Power is not only what one has, but what the enemy believes one has. It is derived through money and people. Those without power must build it from flesh and blood. Both are in ample supply. Government and corporations always have difficulty appealing to people. They usually resort to economic arguments.
Activists should never exceed the expertise of their people. Doing so results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to anyone’s backbone. Organizations under attack wonder whyradicals don’t address the “real issues.” This is why.
Whenever possible, go outside the enemy’s expertise. Find ways to increase his insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by the seemingly irrelevant arguments they are forced to address. In other words, create a crisis.
Make the enemy live up to his own rule book. “If their rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all their own rules.” “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.” The object is creating anger and fear.
Use tactics your people enjoy. “They’ll keep doing it without urging and come back to do more. They’re doing their thing, and will even suggest better ones. Radical activists . . . are no different than any other human being. We allavoid ‘un-fun’ activities, and but we revel at and enjoy the ones that work and bring results.” “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. . . . Even radical activists get bored. So to keep them excited and involved, organizers are constantly coming up with new tactics.” Keep pressure on a target. “Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new.” Attack repeatedly from all sides, “never give the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.” Reminds me of the inexplicable rush to pass stacks of unread, bad legislation.
Any threat usually proves more terrifying than the thing itself. The enemy’s imagination and ego can dream up more consequences than any activist can when perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario. The demoralized organization “will expend enormous time and energy conjuring in its own collective mind the most dire conclusion.” “If you push a negative hard enough, it will push through and become a positive.” Violence on the part of the other side “can win the public to your side because the public sympathizes with the underdog. Unions used this tactic. Peaceful (albeit loud) demonstrations during the heyday of unions in the early to mid-20th Century incurred management’s wrath,” often in the form of violence that created brought public sympathy.
“The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Never let the enemy score points because you’re caught without a solution to the problem.” Activist organizations have an agenda, and their strategy is to hold a place at the table and a forum to wield power, so they should have a compromise solution. Anyone else thinking of all those federal favors to ACORN?
“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.”

Just FYI (from his most dedicated fan) you can get an online superscription to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette online with Mike's column every Tues, Saturday, Sunday.

My conversation over EN"LIGHT"ENING Rail

Okay I don’t how else to post this except to post the entire thread so it makes sense and flows believe me when I tell you it is worth the read to see how people think and what the mind set is out there that we need to overcome.

Suzanne: I am totally behind this concept and
hopefully someday to be a reality!!

Laurie Lee Masterson: I am not necessary opposed to a
light rail system, just where is the money going to come
from? Who is going to pay the 1-2 million upfront for the
feasibility study? When asked if this system has been implemented anywhere
comp. to NWA, the answer was no. My next question would
be - Can you please give me the area this system is
implemented and is profitable?
We are staring at huge Federal tax increases, potential
millage increase for Fay High, unemployment is up, the
economy on a whole is unstable.
Is this a responsible time to spend 2 million dollars on
something that is not a necessity?

Suzzane: I have to add that this IS a necessity for
those of us who have to commute. I am talking big picture.
While it may not benefit everybody, projects such as the high
school are using my tax dollars for which I receive NO benefit
at all, given that I chose not to have any children. Net, net...I
am not even in support of expanding the high school and
think I have the right to have my tax dollars put toward
something that will actually benefit people like me, and there
are many of us who make that commute every day just to
survive.And...at a price, including dodging death
after being hit by a semi truck driver and dodging road ragers
on a daily basis. I am fully in support of this initiative, as
many other citizens are, as evidenced by the comments. Not
only is it our right (those of us who would use it) but the
benefits are many.


Laurie Lee Masterson: Suzanne without trying to be totally
confrontational I am not sure what you mean it is your
"right". Would you please refer me to where that is in either
the state or federal Constitution?
Your argument may be little foiled n the fact that I don't use
either one..my children go to private school and we have 3
cars and commute everyday. The actual argument is not is the Light rail something we
would all use and enjoy, I would use and enjoy a yacht but I
don't have the money, and Fayetteville doesn't have the
money for this project at this time.
Tax money is not about "getting" something YOU/I want our
to make life easier.

S.K.: We all need to consider carefully the notion that
we pay tax dollars for things we don't use or don't benefit
directly from...great schools in FYV make it a desirable place
to live, and your personal prosperity benefits in many ways
(think of the value of your home). Likewise, light rail will
remove hundreds to thousands of cars from I-540 daily - ...
Ms. Masterson: You own 3 cars and commute
everyday. Calculate your personal cost of owning 3 cars
(purchase prices, sales tax, insurance, maintenance) and the
annual cost of your daily commuting (fuel). Do you think your
taxes to pay for a light rail project would exceed your current
annual expenses related to reliance on personal
transportation? I wager your savings would be substantial.

Laurie Lee Masterson :SK I don’t know of anyone who does
not want to live in a "desirable" place, that is not the
question. The question is where is the money? We cannot
continue to spend or commit to spend money we don't have
for things we don’t have to have to impress people we don't
even know. A 'desirable" community would be one that is responsible and
disciplined with it's money and models that for it's citizens.
There is real "benefit" in financial security.
And on that note if it is "not about the money" (as far as what
it cost in taxes to build) then why do they keep telling us how
much money we will save in gas, and insurance, and hwy
construction...etc. I live in the county, if the light
rail is built I (and most everyone else) still has to drive to the
LR station, so i save nothing in insurance. It cost me $3 gal
for gas which I can drive approx 27miles on. With the light
rail system it would cost me approx $5 to park my car,
perhaps as much as $4 for a round trip ticket to say Rogers
(about 25 miles away=50 miles round rip) So now I have
spent $9 dollars plus my time parking, getting on and off the
rail, then when I get to Rogers I have to get a cab or rent a
car to go where I am going...

Tim : There are a gazillion reasons we need this,
not the least of which is maintaining Dickson Street as a
destination. With a Dickson Street stop we will have the
opportunity to have mountains of people from the north
stream into Fayetteville to see shows, eat at restaurants, and
spend their sweet, sweet tax dollars here in Fayetteville. They
won't even have to worry about where to park, because they
will have parked remotely. Plus, we won't have to worry
about parking or dangerous interstate driving when we go to
Crystal Bridges or the airport. It's a HUGE win-win for
everyone involved.

A post by Suzanne that was deleted read in part "I don't have the
time or energy to sit here and dig through all of the research
that has been done on this topic, and I don't have to justifymy viewpoint, as I am entitled to it"

Laurie Lee Masterson
a Gazillion is a lot I am not sure where that falls after a trillion
but since it is really hard to conceive of that figure please list
for me outside of "maintaining" Dickson which that argument
seems a little flawed, what are some specific 3-4 other
reasons that this is a "great idea"?
Suzanne, I agree you have a right to
your opinion but isn't our responsibility to INFORMED voters,
to make good responsible decisions for the "good" of all?
Voting on opinion, while your right, is not in the same vain of
thinking as you apply to the Rail system "the good/benefit to
the human being". If it is running in the hole then the wellbeing of everyone is at
stake... ppl need food, shelter and clothing before
transportation. and just a side note the Constitution (voted on by the people)
is the foundation for all law and should be followed to the
letter if in fact we are interested in Human Kind.
thank you for your time, my hope and prayer is that ppl will
be come informed educated voters and not emotional
reactionary voters.
God's Speed

S.K. RE: ppl in town commuting to rail stations. ppl in
town will have a variety of choices regarding their commute
to/from a rail station. Depending on proximity, folks might
walk on city sidewalks, walk on the trail system, ride a bike,
ride a scooter, carpool with others from their neighborhood,
have a spouse or partner drop them off and pick them up,
ride Razorback Transit. Other commuting solutions would be
part of the discussion in planning a light rail system. Folks
may opt for more economical cars if their daily commute is 5
mi rather than 50 mi. There are many possibilities for those

Laurie Lee Masterson those are all great options for a
select few, what about ppl with families that say live more
than 2 miles from the station? Then there is the problem of
parking, Downtown Fay is already a parking nightmare, where
do all the rider cars park, what the expense be of the parking
garage? Again I am not strictly opposed to the rail idea, just think
before we step out there and spend 1-2 million on a
feasibility study there are some things to consider.
1) who pays for the study?
2) where does that money come from, are we going into debt
to do this study?
3) are the other areas involved already committed to the
project? If we spend 2 mill and Springdale says no then what?
they are cutting their budget dramatically now.
4) what about land, the cost of absorbing the land needed for
this?
5) The usage variable, our population compared to the other
areas this is implement (I might add without profit) are much
larger, ten fold n some cases. Can we justify the amount of
ppl who use this


Tim Laurie--I thought I did? Access to the airport
and Crystal Bridges....remember that? If you want me to keep
going...
Less environmental impact because of traffic on 540, Access
for Wal-Mart employees who live down here to the hqrs, less
drunk driving accidents, more traffic and commerce at Drake
Field if that station is built (which helps out all the industry in
Fayetteville), access from Drake to the business districts of
Fayetteville, access for Tyson employees who live in other
cities to their hqrs, transportation for students who don't have
vehicles (unlike YOU), more money in sales taxes for those
who stop at the mall station who don't want to fight the
traffic, an incentive for people like you to drop their vehicles
all together and ride bikes like they do in other metropolitan
areas, an incentive for Wal-Mart to stay based here. I'm
gonna stop before I hit a gazillion.
Now, you may not be convinced, but you
don't have to ride it if you don't want to pay the parking fee,
or park for free somewhere and walk, or take a bike. It's a
free country. But you'll wind up paying $9 in gas to drive back
and forth between Fayetteville and Bentonville anyway, most
likely, even if the ticket prices were that high--plus you have
the option to ride.
My point here being, that it is good for you. But just because
you don't like it since it apparently won't save YOU on
insurance, doesn't mean it's not a good idea for the rest of
NWA and Fayetteville.
And FACT POLICE--the constitution was voted on by state
legislatures, not the people. Also, in reading your earlier
posts....unless we make over $250,000/yr. "we" won't be receiving a
tax increase on the federal level. Maybe YOU will, but the vast
majority of "we" voters shall not.

Laurie Lee Masterson can you please refer me to the the
study from other places where these fact bare out?
How do i ride my bike with two children, groceries, sports
gear, friends of kids. How many Walmart/tyson ppl commute that will relinquish
their cars? don't they have to drive to the station? what about
their families, and what "more sales tax"? it cost 40-60 mill for hwy but over
124 mill/mile for rail. for 100 miles is would be
12,400,000,000 we are getting closer to your gazillion
I am not looking for an argument I am looking for a
discussion on the facts, not my opinion or yours or what
either of us believes we know... what do the facts say.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Article
s/000/000/002/351jldsx.asp
I would encourage you to go and
read the bill about 250,000 being the cap for taxes. And that
is not taking into account the cap-n-trade tax, health care tax,
efca tax, new highschool tax, new dog park tax, new fuel tax,
new cash for clunkers tax, new state funded parks tax, new
state lottery tax, new state river project tax... and there really
are a gazillion of these. it makes no difference what tax
bracket you are in what matters is what are the ppl paying
the taxes in...business owners will increase their products to
you in affect you loose buying power, and when they raise it
they do it exponentially..to regain profit. there is a much
bigger picture than just having a new rail that would be nice to
us

Tim: The Weekly Standard is a right-wing rag.
Clearly you do not understand how taxes work. Let me
explain some things. First, there are not taxes for all those
things such as a "cash for clunkers tax". Much of the stuff you
mentioned is federal (I won't even mention Arkansas because
our Democratically-run state is lowering taxes, and there is
not a lottery tax, that would be counter-intuitive all together
now wouldn't it?), and most federal taxes come out of the
federal income tax you see in your paycheck. The other ones
are mostly local sales taxes (STILL at 9.25%, and hasn't
changed in a WHILE in Fayetteville) and property taxes (I got
my letter yesterday letting me know that my value is now
lower, along with everyone else, and we will have to pay LESS
NOW than in the past few years).
And as for the children and groceries thing, not my problem. I
would suggest moving closer to town if you have to move
around so much. But complaining won't solve your problems.
Oh, and you
might put them in public school (since you
pay for it anyway) where they could have bus service, thus
saving you money and saving the environment at the same
time (not that you seem to care all that much).

post here by Suzanne that was deleted- saying that she did not have to stand for my insults, she had a masters degree and was a researcher.

Laurie Lee Masterson: Timall the taxes I listed are real taxes including the lottery tax,
itis called a regressive tax. The cash for clunkers is paid by
federal tax dollars which are taxes. anything and everything
the fed. gov pays for is from tax money which is paid by tax
payers. Arkansas is not lowering taxes we are one of the
highest taxed states in the entire US and Fay is one of the
most expensive places to live. Your property tax going down
is not because taxes went down it is because property values
went down so that is actually worse for you than if they had
raised your taxes, you have less equity. So not matter what
level they are on they are all taxes that come out of our pay
and they are all going up and exponentially, all the while our
assets are going down, home values, 401k's, the dollar itself.
As for my children I am not complaining I am very aware that
I already pay for schools I don't use.
I am simply asking questions and stating facts from research
I have done on the light rail. why must you attack me
personally ..." not that you seem to care all that much" are
you assuming because I am not in favor of spending millions
of dollars on an unproven "upgrade" that I not concerned
with the environment? I find that a little brash. You don't know
me, don't know where or how my family and i live.
I am simply asking where the proof in your argument is.
Where are the studies? The data? As far as the "right wing
rag" i didn't know light rail was a left/right issue?
Suzanne-I have not once said anything that would imply I was judging
you I just simply reiterated what you said " I don't have the
time or energy to sit here and dig through all of the research
that has been done on this topic, and I don't have to justify
my viewpoint, as I am entitled to it." Implying that your
decision is not based on facts but simply the fact that you
think the light rail is a good idea, again that is your right, but
again i would submit that making a decision of the
magnitude, putting our community literally 100's of Millions of
dollars in debt we might do our due diligence before signing
off on it. there is no insult intended. And as far as a masters
degree that is something to be proud to have, I never said
you were ill-informed you told me you didn't want to be
informed

HEY! (HAD ENOUGH YET?)

The way I view things the Arkansas lottery is a good lesson learned. The people of our state, myself included (although I voted against the lottery) it appears voted to implement something without doing our due diligence.
Two-thirds of those who went to the polls voted to implement the lottery. What that means is over 66 percent of the people in the state said that they “trusted” the government of Arkansas to initiate a program involving millions of dollars on the off chance our schools would receive funding. Wonder what the thought process was of those pulling the “yes” lever? Suppose they were thinking of the children, the schools or the people of Arkansas that would be sucked into the lottery “scheme”.
I submit that is not the case at all. I believe that most likely they were thinking “wouldn’t be nice if I won a million dollars?” When one might argue we should all have been thinking, “I need some specifics here. If I vote for this and allow state officials to over see a program where literally millions of dollars at stake, who is in charge here? What are they going to get paid to run this? How many employees will be on the payroll? How is the money divided between the workers, the winners and the schools? In other words all the questions and arguments that are going on right now should have been occurring before WE THE PEOPLE gave our stamp of approval.
Evidently our Governor and Lt. Governor failed to do their due diligence as well. It seems after Grant county Sherriff Lance Huey was hired for $115,644.00, Gov. Beebe stepped in admonishing the commission which then voted to cap annual salaries at $80,000.00 without a review.
So here we are months later with the people realizing once again that we have allowed ourselves to be fooled. Now we are desperately trying to shouting “Hey wait just a minute here. That’s not how we envisioned this! What are you people doing?”
These questions, and more, should have been asked on the front end. We, as citizen, must start taking our voting seriously- rather than taking the attitude “Oh! That sounds good! He looks like a nice man. Let’s go pull the lever and have a beer.”
In my estimation we Arkansans got what we asked for, a classic scam. Hopefully in the future, (like when the school district is asking for $115 million bond to build an $83million high school by raising the local millage by 4.9) we will do our necessary due diligence and discover the actual facts before we give away our money.
Friends, this still is a government of, by and for The People. The People just need to remember that being a citizen in a free society requires real work. If not taken seriously, results like those we are seeing today (and have been living with many years): An over- reaching, over-spending, arrogant, self-indulgent government will only continue likely worsen.
Join with me today to say HAD ENOUGH YET?! No longer will I vote for any person, any law or any other issue about whom I’ve not personally done my home work. If we do that together -UNITED- we CAN expect great change. It’s the only way.